Mack & Mabel City Center Encores! — Page 3

poisonivy2 said: "Jarethan said:

Having seen the original production, I would have to ask what you expected? It was a monumental failure, despite the great score. The show was cold as ice, the book was terrible, the solid direction and choreography didn't matter because the entire audience was stultifyingly bored because of the rotten book and unsympathetic male lead in particular. IMO this was one where they never should have attempted a semi-full staging, because the book was going to make it a non-starter. They should have just performed a concert, perhaps with a narrator, maybe even covering why the show failed so miserably.

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Well ... isn't the point of Encores! to revive musicals that have worthy scores but for one reason or another are not viable as long-term B'way runs? A lot of musicals have great scores and very problematic books -- Merrily We Roll Along is one. I'm still really glad I got to see the songs of Mack and Mabel in context in a staged production, even though I could see why this closed so quickly -- Act 2 in particular falls apart dramatically as one dance number after another clashes with the actual dark, depressing storyline."



You make a valid point, with which I can not conceptually disagree. That said, I am guessing that they would have had a more entertaining show if they threw out the book entirely...throw in some narration re the creation of the show (I admit that I don't know if there are any published accounts or other ways to get that info). I guess it is also possible that Encores attendees for a couple of performances would be more forgiving, for the reasons you mentioned, and focus more on the plusses than audiences 45 years ago who were expecting something great when they purchased their tickets before it opened (Jerry Herman, Gower Champion, Robert Preston in a show about early movies...'sounds like it will be a lot of fun'...only to discover that it was like attending a wake. (God knows they didn't purchase tickets after it opened).

I agree that one of the main joys of Encores is getting to experience scores in context, good or bad. To me "Museum Piece" is not a negative at all as long as it's done well - I love the opportunity to step back in time. It's a totally different expectation - the joy is not necessarily how great the piece is, the joy is getting to see something brought back to life brilliantly just for a brief moment. Theatre is ephemeral, Encores is a way to transcend that momentarily in a wonderful way. I love theatre history as much as I love innovation and new work and things like this production of "Mack and Mabel" are living history. Just another reminder why I love New York despite it all.

At the same time, I did find myself thinking I'd kind of rather see it as a wonderful concert suite rather than this cold book musical, which is not my usual reaction to Encores shows. I think because of the sheer quality of the material it jumped out at me that if you just dispensed with narrative and had that same orchestra and those same performers just do the songs, staged just like that but without the actual book, it would make for an unqualified glorious experience. But the point of Encores is the context.

Maybe if I'd never seen M&M before I'd have been more engaged in the discovery, but I saw a very decent semi-pro outdoor production in NJ a number of years back and found it cold and off-putting despite how much fun it was to hear that score reverberating through the summer air. I wondered if a glossier/starrier production might come off differently, but it felt pretty much the same which was disappointing. The best moment for me was the appearance of the Jerry Herman portraits while the orchestra played, which was a genuinely emotional and vivid moment and I'm glad I got to have that in the wake of his passing.

Pashacar said: "temms said: "I saw a very decent semi-pro outdoor production in NJ a number of years back"

Do you remember where, and around when, this was? My girlfriend knows she has seen it before, but can't place where for the life of her.

Back to the discussion of the book, I agree with everyone on how flawed it is, but the other thought I had coming out of the Encores! production was how much , to quote Mack, goddam POTENTIAL there was there. It is a great story, with all of the sad turns of real life, and a nice parallel between the love affair and the silent film industry. If they had gotten the book right, it could have been one of the absolute all-time classics."

I think the first act is fairly good. It's the second act that falls apart and becomes two musicals: one being Mabel's deterioration, and the other being dance production numbers that have almost nothing to do with the storyline.